The present disclosure relates to an image forming apparatus.
Typically, an electrophotographic image forming apparatus includes an image carrying member and an image transfer member, wherein the image carrying member carries a toner image, and the image transfer member transfers the toner image from the image carrying member to a sheet. Furthermore, the image forming apparatus includes a sheet guide that guides a forward end of the sheet conveyed by a pair of registration rollers, to a target position on the outer circumferential surface of the image carrying member.
The target position is located between a developing position and a transfer position on the outer circumferential surface of the image carrying member, closer to the transfer position than to the developing position. At the transfer position, a transfer nip portion is formed between the image carrying member and the image transfer member.
After the forward end of the sheet reaches the target position, the forward end of the sheet moves to the transfer position along the outer circumferential surface of the image carrying member. The sheet then passes through the transfer nip portion.
The sheet guide includes a first sheet guide and a second sheet guide that respectively face a first surface and a second surface of the sheet, wherein the first surface is a side of the sheet to which the image is transferred, and the second surface is opposite to the first surface.
In many cases, each of the first sheet guide and the second sheet guide is composed of a plurality of guide members. With this configuration, the sheet guide for guiding the sheet along an intended curved path can be configured from a plurality of members that are relatively small and have simple shapes.
For example, the first sheet guide may include an upstream first guide member and a downstream first guide member that are respectively disposed on the upstream side and the downstream side in the sheet conveyance direction.